Use of ICT and the Application of E-Governance Strategies in Service Delivery by Local Councils in Cameroon: The Case of Local Councils in the Bamenda Municipality

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Published: Feb 29, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46404/panjogov.v5i1.5354
Keywords:
ICT, E-Governance, Service Delivery, Local Councils, Cameroon

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Mbiydzenyuy Courage Sevidzem
University of Bamenda, Cameroon

Abstract

The increasing use of information and communication technology (ICT) by Cameroonians has brought changes in citizen's needs and demands and has raised expectations on how services should be provided. Citizens need to carry out transactions (transactional services) conveniently and obtain accessible, reliable, and sustainable information (information services) from their local government. Unfortunately, this is still far from the reality in some selected local councils in Cameroon, given that they use ICT mainly for administrative and not service delivery purposes. Therefore, this paper's main objective is to establish a link between ICT usage and the empowerment of local councils in the application of e-governance strategies for information and transaction services delivery. The theoretical framework used in the paper included Technology Acceptance, Wider Dissemination, and e-governance Models. The stratified purposive and systematic random sampling techniques were employed to obtain needed data from the Bamenda I, II, and III municipalities in the North West Region. The findings of this paper revealed that a significant number of local councils are already using their ICTs to provide information services. However, none of them so far are using ICT for transactional service delivery purposes. Also, we observed a gap between citizen expectations and local council provision of information and transactional services. This paper found that the use of ICT to apply e-governance strategies would improve local council service delivery in terms of accessibility to information by citizens and sustainability of council information services, also promote transparency in transactions between the council and the citizens, and ease transactions between citizens and local councils in terms of time and cost. Thus, this paper recommends that local councils digitalize manual service delivery processes through their operational IT units. Also, for the Cameroon government to achieve the goals stated in the NDS30 Plan for a Digital Cameroon, it must consider effectively involving local councils in the national digitalization initiatives. This can be done by encouraging them to adapt their information and transactional service delivery procedures to more ICT-based strategies despite the challenges involved.

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How to Cite
Sevidzem, M. C. (2024). Use of ICT and the Application of E-Governance Strategies in Service Delivery by Local Councils in Cameroon: The Case of Local Councils in the Bamenda Municipality. PanAfrican Journal of Governance and Development (PJGD), 5(1), 3-27. https://doi.org/10.46404/panjogov.v5i1.5354
Issue
Vol 5 No 1 (2024): PanAfrican Journal of Governance and Development (PJGD)
Section
Research-based/ Original Articles
Author Biography

Mbiydzenyuy Courage Sevidzem, University of Bamenda, Cameroon

Mbiydzenyuy Courage Sevidzem is a female Cameroonian. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science with a Specialty in Public Administration. She is currently a full-time researcher at the LoRDA Research Center and a Part-Time Lecturer at the University of Bamenda and Catholic University (CATUC Bamenda). She is well-grounded in Decentralization and Quantitative Political Data research. She is the author of the book “Public Policy Implementation and Decentralization in Cameroon” Published by LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing. She has also authored the article “ICT for the Enhancement of Service Delivery in Municipalities in Cameroon,” published in The International Journal Series on Tropical Issues, Volume 21.

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